School, Friends, Crushes, and Football
by Whatev3691
Summary: AxC and other couples. Better summary in intro. Original high school fic. A new guy on the GS High football team, or is it a guy? Don't worry if you don't know football, there's not a lot about it and I explain it all. Read the opening author note!
1. You're a what?

**Whenever I heard the famous "You're a girl?!" in Gundam Seed, it made me think of this. I don't know why, but I just think it fits. Who can't picture Cagalli as a football player on a boy's team? I swear I had to think so hard to fill the team with players; I've used almost every teenage character that was on the show! This is a high school fic, kind of centering around the football team, but also having other aspects. It's mostly AxC (and K x L), but there are some other couples thrown in there. Oh, the SEED people are juniors (except Nicol is a sophomore) and the Destiny people are sophomores (except Meyrin is a freshman). And no coordinators, everyone's a natural, except they don't call themselves that obviously. The ones trying out for the team for the first time (meaning that they weren't on it the previous year are Cagalli, Ahmed, Nicol, Shinn, Rey, Heine, Auel, and Sting).**

**If you don't know anything about football, then don't get discouraged, because I'm not going to go heavily into detail about the games and stuff. Just what I think is important to the plot or for making the story make sense. Most of my football knowledge comes from Eyeshield 21 and Wikipedia, so I'm no expert either. Anything that I think needs to be explained will be numbered and explained at the end or just have an AN next to it. This chapter will be one of the most football-heavy chapters, as well as one of the shorter ones I think.**

**Well here goes my second story, "School, Crushes, Friends, and Football". Enjoy and review please!**

**Disclaimer: There is no way that I now own, ever did own, or ever will own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny. So leave me alone.**

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"Finally, try-out day is here at last!" exclaimed Kira Yamato to his best friend, Athrun Zala. They were on their way to the field at their high school, GS High. It was the end of summer break, and Kira was very excited about football try-outs. He obviously knew that he would make the team, as he was the best wide receiver in the school and had been on the team last year. Besides, Athrun was the captain and quarterback, and everyone knew how well they worked together.

"You're just excited about seeing _Lacus _again. It's been a long summer after all" Athrun coolly replied. He knew about his friend's secret crush for a long time, and enjoyed teasing him about it. Lacus was the captain of the cheerleading team, and so she would be at tryouts today, since the cheerleading team was also having try-outs. She had also been good friends with Athrun since they were young kids, through their families.

Kira blushed and said, "Yeah, well, at least she's a potential girlfriend. Despite your popularity at school, you never show any interest in _anyone._ What's with you anyway? With your huge fan club, you could have almost any girl at school!"

"Like I'd want to go out with any of those fan girls. They just like me because I'm…" Athrun stopped walking and imitated one of the said fan girls, "soooo hot and cool and dreamy and the captain of the football team!" Athrun made a face. "Gross."

Kira patted his blue-haired friend on the back and said, "I feel for you, man. Let's forget about that for now, and focus on the game. I hope we get some good new recruits this year."

Athrun looked at him and said, "I have a feeling that this is going to be a very good year for us. I hope I'm right." He had no idea how right he was.

* * *

"Alright guys, let's see some hustle out there!" Coach Fllaga called to the players on the field. They were in various stages of warming up, and the coach and Athrun were currently looking over the players trying out. "Well, we lost a lot of upper classmen last year, but we'll be still be fine I think. We still have you and Kira, Dearka and Yzak, and a bunch of other linemen and guards and stuff." Mwu La Fllaga was a pretty laid-back coach, and when he was trying to catch the attention of the cheerleading coach, Ms. Ramius, he left the team to Athrun. So the two were pretty close. 

"I think we have some promising new players," Athrun added. "Doesn't look like too many power players, but there's a lot of speed out there."

"I agree," said Mwu. "So, let's gather 'em up and start, shall we?" He gave a sharp blast on his whistle and all the players stopped whatever they were doing, and many of them were just showing off for the cheerleaders watching them, to jog over to where he and Athrun were standing.

"All right, all of you," he started. "I'm Coach La Fllaga, and this is the team captain and quarter back, Athrun Zala. We will be evaluating the various aspects of your play as we watch you, including attitude, speed, power, and technique. Don't worry if you're not totally well rounded, actually that might be good depending on your position! (1)" He laughed at his joke, and some chuckled were heard, although they mostly came from players who were afraid to not laugh.

"Well, you'll notice I haven't taken your names down. That's because I don't care about them right now. Once you make my team, I'll learn your first, last, and middle names, and even your mother's maiden name if you want." There was some more laughter. "But for now, we'll just be going by the numbers on your jerseys. Understood?"

"Yes, coach!" they replied in unison.

"Good, let's get started." He looked at a chart in his hands. "Ok, numbers 82 and 83? Are you tight ends or receivers (2)?"

The two players in question were one tall, slim guy who seemed to be very relaxed and a slightly shorter one who had more of an angry air about him. "We're tight ends," the taller one replied.

"Right, let's see you guys in action then," Mwu said. "Athrun, work with them a little."

Athrun started doing various drills with them, passes and plays, the normal things. They were both very good. Everyone watched them and commented on their abilities. As Mwu looked around at the players, he noticed one who seemed to be standing slightly apart from the others. Not exactly in an obviously separate way, but the way the guy was acting was kind of how someone who feels uncomfortable in a crowd would act.

Mwu thought,_ That player has a very slim physique, not a power player at all. I bet he's a runner. Maybe he feels odd because of his lack of muscle?_ Or m_aybe he's just nervous because he's no good? I'll have him go next; I'm interested to see if he can play at all. _

When the two tight-end players were done, they rejoined the group. Mwu wrote some things down on his clipboard, and then addressed the player he had just been thinking about. "You, number...uh, 29. You are a running back I assume?" the player looked at him and simply replied, "Yeah." The reply was stated in a muffled voice. It seemed that teh player didn't feel like taking out his mouthguard.

"Okay, I need a few defensive players, um Dearka and Yzak and Rusty (AN: he knows their names from last year) will do, to go set up to block a run."

The boys that he had called out ran to the positions that he had told them to go to. There was about 40 yards between where the group of tryoutees was standing and the end zone. "Okay Athrun, give this guy a hand off and let's see him run."

"You, ready 29?" Athrun asked.

"Always ready," the player replied.

"Okay then, GO!" Mwu shouted with a blow on the whistle.

The player numbered 29 ran up to meet Athrun, took the ball from his outstretched hands, and took off. "Whoa, he's fast!" some guys commented. As the player reached Dearka and Yzak, he skillfully executed a series of sharp cuts and spins, and left them in his dust. The poor guys had no idea what had hit them.

"Well, the guy sure knows how to move," Athrun said. "Agreed," Kira said.

Number 29 kept on sprinting down the field until he was approaching rusty, the last line of defense, Coach La Fllaga said, "Too bad, but I don't think this guy's gonna get by Rusty. He's real tough, and can block cuts pretty well."

To the team's surprise, the running back was running straight at Rusty, and didn't show any intention of stopping or changing his running style. "Is he gonna try to overpower him? That definitely won't work."

Suddenly the runner was right on Rusty, and then he wasn't. He was past Rusty, and Rusty was on the ground, with little idea of when he had ended up on the ground. Number 29 had simply barreled though him, and apparently, he wasn't just all speed. Somewhere in that runner's body he was hiding quite a bit of power! The team was dumbstruck. They watched as the runner casually ran to the end zone, and then started returning towards the rest of the group. Once he was near enough to the group that they could talk to him, they started congratulating him and saying how awesome he was. There were pats on the back all around. The player, obviously sweating from the run, started taking off his helmet as he said, "I also play defensive tackle, by the way."

The player finished taking off his helmet, and shook out his head. Long, golden locks flowed down to "his" shoulders, and the boys were awestruck as they looked at the player standing before them. "He" took a hair tie off from around his wrist and started tying "his" hair up, muttering, "I should have done this in the first place."

The sound of a helmet being thrown to the ground broke the silence. The one person who didn't have "his" jaw on the ground looked to the person who had caused the noise.

Kira stared wide-eyed at number 29, and shouted, "CAGALLI?"

The player looked back, equally shocked, and shouted, "KIRA?"

Everyone else, who was now totally in the dark, snapped out of their stupor, and cried out together, "YOU'RE A GIRL?"

* * *

**(1)** **In football, most players are specialized in just one area (throwing, catching, etc.), so being all-rounded isn't necessarily an advantage.**

**(2)** **Jersey numbers in football correspond to specific positions, so when Mwu saw that the players' numbers were 82 and 83, he knew that they could only be wide receivers or tight ends. The same goes for Cagalli (numbers 20-49 are only for defensive backs and running backs, so Mwu assumed she was a running back).**

**Player knowledge:**

- **Quarterback- makes the plays for the team in the huddle and then either passes the ball, hands it off, or executes whatever play he has decided on**

- **Wide receiver- catches long (and sometimes shorter) passes from the quarterback, has to be fast and use pass routes to catch passes**

- **Tight end- a player that sometimes catches passes and sometimes blocks, sort of an all-around player**

- **Running back- runs up the field with the ball and runs by using sharp turns and cuts to get through the defense, also catches some short passes, one of the fastest players on the team**

**And thus ends chapter 1! I promise, it will get a little less football-ish in later chapters, so just stick with it. I already have chapter 2 written and part of 3, so I'll wait for a few reviews before posting it.**

**Please review!**


	2. Meetings and Greetings

**Thanks for those of you who reviewed! Not much else to say, here's chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it, okay?**

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While the faces of about 20 teenage guys, Coach La Fllaga, and the cheerleading team (with the exception of Lacus, who just watched quietly) gaped at them, this player apparently named Cagalli ran to Kira and enveloped him in a huge hug. The other players could just continue their staring. 

"I didn't know you went to this school!" Cagalli exclaimed.

"Well, I do," said Kira happily. "Why are you here? I thought you went to…um-"

"Orb High School," Cagalli finished for him. "Dad had to be transferred because of work, so I go here now starting this year."

"You look great, Cagalli. You've hardly changed in three years!"

Just as Cagalli was about to reply to him, the boy named Dearka finally snapped out of his staring and stepped out of the crowd. "Wait a minute, wait a minute!" He looked at Kira. "Just how exactly do you know her?"

Everyone looked at the two standing next to each other and waited in suspense for Kira's answer. Then, to their surprise, Kira put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Guys, meet my twin sister Cagalli."

The people who knew Kira were dumbfounded while the younger players, who didn't really know him, had no particular expressions on their faces. "Kira," a voice from the crowd said, "we've been best friends for years, and now you choose to tell me that you have a sister? And a twin one at that?" It was Athrun who had spoken up.

"Heh, heh. Oops?" Kira rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.

Athrun sighed and said, "Kira. Oops is what you say if you forget your homework, or spill a glass of water. Not when you forget to tell your best friend about some long-lost sibling or something! Did she just drop down from the sky into your life or something?" Athrun was too busy with his rant to remember that the person in question was standing only a few feet away.

By now, Cagalli had just been watching them talk about her, and she was getting a little tired of it. She had never been the most patient person. "Excuse me, I'm right here! Hi, my name's Cagalli, Kira is my twin brother, AND, all of YOU," she glared with her hands on her hips at the football players around her who looked down at the ground in response, "yes I am a girl. Got a problem with it?" They furiously shook their heads, while Mwu said, "I don't care if you're a girl, boy, or something else. If you've got talent, I'll play you. I don't discriminate." He turned to the rest of the players and said, "This little episode has been fun and all, but can we get back to try-outs, if you don't mind?"

"Yes, coach," they all said together.

The cheerleaders, who had also been watching the events on the field, were suddenly called to attention by the coach, Ms. Murrue Ramius. "Okay, girls, I know how much you all love watching the boys, but let's get back to work, shall we?" The girls laughed and went back to what they were doing. While she was stretching, Miriallia, a brown-haired girl who had been on the squad last year, said to Lacus, "So what do you think about that little scene we witnessed? And considering it had to do with your dear _Kira_, I'm pretty sure you were paying close attention." Miriallia loved to joke around with her pink-haired friend about her little crush on the team's wide receiver.

Lacus' face turned red and she said, "His sister seems very…interesting. But nice. I hope she makes the team so we can get to know her better."

"If she plays all the time like how she just did, I don't think that there will be any question of her making the team," Miriallia told her.

"You're right, Mir," Lacus agreed. _Cagalli, huh? I hope we can become friends, especially if she's Kira's sister, _Lacus thought.

* * *

As the tryouts continued, Athrun found his eye wandering over towards the player numbered 29, A.K.A. Cagalli. While she had been standing in front of the crowd of boys, talking as if she had known them for ages, Athrun couldn't help but notice that, despite the fact that she was sweaty and breathing kind of hard, she was very attractive. Amber eyes, shiny blonde hair, he couldn't tell how he had mistaken her for a boy! _Well, those helmets do pretty much block your face, and the pads hide any, erm, chest that she might have, _he thought. Athrun blushed a little at his thought and at the fact that he had even been looking at that area. _If anything, at least she doesn't seem like she'll be another hopeless fan girl, and I can finally have a friend who's a girl and isn't obsessed with me, besides Lacus of course. The stupid girls are getting so tiring, and I hope Lacus can keep any new lovesick cheerleaders in check._

As Athrun watched Cagalli out of the corner of his eye, he saw her excelling at whatever drill she was participating in. She seemed like an incredibly well rounded player. As he watched her forcefully tackle a poor green-haired boy who just seemed to be trying out for kicker, he thought, _Man, she's so aggressive!_ He blushed again at the innuendo his mind had thought of. _No, Zala, not like that! What's with me anyway? I never act like this! I should get my mind back on tryouts._ And with a whistle from Coach La Fllaga to snap him out of his thoughts, he returned to the game.

* * *

It turned out that the whistle was just to call a water break, and as Athrun trotted over to Kira, he saw him over by Cagalli, who was in the process of pouring water over her blonde head. "Hey Kira, what's going on?" he said. 

"Hi Athrun," Kira said. Cagalli looked away and crossed her arms. "Oh, yeah. Since you and Athrun weren't formally introduced, and according to you, he was a 'major jerk', Athrun Zala, meet…," He was interrupted by his sister.

"Cagalli Yula Attha. Pleased, I'm sure." She extended her hand, which Athrun willingly took.

"Major jerk, and it's a pleasure," Athrun replied with a smile.

"At least you recognize it," Cagalli replied jokingly. She hadn't been really mad at him, but she had wanted an apology of some sort for him (in her mind) ignoring her before. She figured that she should get along with him, since he was her brother's best friend and all.

"So, Cagalli," Kira started. "Me and Athrun were going to go out for pizza after this. Wanna come? We could catch up and stuff."

"Sounds great! I always get starved after practice. Meet me outside the locker rooms? Kay?"

"Sure," said Kira. He looked around and saw all the guys putting their helmets back on. "Oh, break's over. Let's head back." And they ran back on to the field.

* * *

It was about an hour later, and practice had finally finished. Athrun and Kira were leaning up against the fence that bordered the athletic fields, waiting for Cagalli to finish getting changed. Of course, being boys, they had somehow entered the locker room, changed out of all their football gear, washed up a little, and changed into normal clothes in the time span of about five minutes. However, Cagalli was not as quick as them, so they had been waiting for a bit now. Athrun was wearing a green t-shirt with a black leather jacket over it and black jeans, and Kira had a blue sweatshirt on that had the word GUNDAM PILOT printed across it in black letters. The sweatshirt referred to Kira's favorite game, Mobile Suit Gundam, which he considered himself an expert at. 

"Why does it take girls so long to get changed?" Kira asked. "She was wearing the same amount of gear as us! I just don't get it" he sighed.

"I don't think we ever will," remarked Athrun. He looked at the entrance to the girl's locker room and saw a blonde head appear. "Oh, wait. There she is."

Cagalli spotted the guys waiting for her and walked over to them. She had gotten the chance to brush her hair out and fix it so that it wasn't plastered to her head with sweat like before, and she was wearing a red t-shirt with a wide neckline and cargo pants (AN: You all know the outfit). As she approached them, Kira's eyes widened and he said, "Wow, you've changed more than I thought, Cags." All three of them blushed slightly, Athrun more than the other two, and Cagalli said, "I don't know if I should thank you or hit you, pervert. And not a word out of you!" The last part was directed at Athrun, who held his hands up in defense and shook his head, implying that he had no intention of making any comments.

Kira backed away while saying, "Hey, I was just noticing!"

"Ok, whatever. By the way, sorry for taking so long," she said. "I was actually finished a while ago, but some of the cheerleaders who were in there started talking to me, and I didn't really want to be rude to them, so I just had to wait."

The trio started walking away from the fields, towards the pizza place that Kira and Athrun knew, and Athrun whispered to Kira, "I guess that's the reason they take so long. They all flock together and prevent one of their own kind from leaving."

"What was that?" Cagalli asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Nothing important. So what did you think of them?" asked Kira, ready and willing to change the subject.

"What the locker rooms? Nice I guess. They kinda smelled though," Cagalli replied.

"No, the cheerleaders!" Kira said loudly. "I think I remember from way back that you always despised cheerleaders, calling cheerleading 'a fake sport for girls who can't play a real sport so just decide to cheer on others to make themselves feel like they can actually do something athletic', right?"

Cagalli stared at Kira. "Wow bro, you sure have a good memory!" she exclaimed. "But I don't feel that way anymore. Not after I started playing football. Then I saw that some stunts the cheerleaders do are way hard and I could never do them. It's like gymnastics with pompoms. And to answer your question, at least two of the girls are nice. Let me think…Lacus and Miriallia I think it was? They introduced themselves to me, and said that they hope we can get to know each other, since we'll be spending time together now."

When Kira heard Lacus' name, he gave a small start. This went unnoticed by Cagalli, but not by Athrun, who smirked. Kira asked, a little timidly, "Did Lacus say anything about me?"

Cagalli thought and said, "Besides saying 'You're Kira's sister, right?' to me, no, nothing."

Kira looked crestfallen. "Oh, I see. Nothing, huh."

Though Cagalli may have been a little dense, she could tell that her brother was upset about something. "Kira, what's the matter? You look like I just told you that I ran over your dog."

It was at this moment that Athrun decided to enter the conversation. "Well," he said, "it just so happens that your dear brother here is totally in love with Lacus."

Kira turned red and shouted, "Athrun! Why'd you tell her that?"

Athrun seemed unaffected by his friend's outburst, as he casually replied, "Calm down. She would've found out anyway. You're painfully obvious."

"Really, Kira? That's great! I totally didn't notice a thing!" Cagalli exclaimed.

Both boys sweatdropped and had the same thought. _On the other hand, maybe she wouldn't have._

* * *

**The reason the ending is kind of abrupt is that I split this chapter up into 2 and 3. It was getting way too long, and I still wasn't done, so I decided to end it here and continue the rest as chapter 3.** **And sorry, but the next update might take a bit longer, seeing how I don't have chapter 3 finished yet.**

**Please review! It doesn't have to be long, it could be 3 words or less! I like it, I hate it, it sucks, it's great, keep writing- that's all it takes! Pretty please?**


	3. Getting to Know You

**Once again, I thank my reviewers. Just so you all know, I'm not the person who believes that people meet and fall in love after like a day. Athrun and Cagalli are going to become friends first, and then we'll see where it goes…;P.**

**Disclaimer: I own this just about as much as you do, and since you're spending time reading this story… **

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The trio continued walking the rest of the way, just making small talk about various things, until they arrived at the pizzeria, Gino's Pizza and Italian Restaurant, walked inside, and found a table. Cagalli collapsed into the booth, and Kira sat next to her, leaving Athrun alone across the table from them. "Finally! I feel like we've been walking forever!" Cagalli complained.

"It was only about a mile! When did you get so lazy, sis?" Kira asked.

"Well, tryouts were pretty long and tiring," Athrun stated in Cagalli's defense.

"See? Athrun agrees with me! And FYI, I've always been lazy! What happened to that super memory Kira?" Cagalli was using her superior tone of voice.

"Fine, fine, you win. Let's just order," Kira said in defeat. As soon as he said that, a waiter came over to them (AN: It's a pizzeria where you can either be waited on or order at the counter), and Kira and Athrun were both shocked at who their server was.

"Dearka?!" they said in unison. "Since when do you work here?"

"I just recently started, don't remind me," Dearka sighed. "My old man cut off my money, saying I spend too much on stupid things. But I need all of it! The hair gel, the cologne, the video games, the self-tanning lotion, the teeth whitener…"

"Okay, Dearka, we get it" Athrun said. "The bottom line is…you're an idiot."

"Hey, I'm offended," Dearka pouted. "And Mir just decided to take me back."

"How many times does that make now? Ten, eleven?" Kira asked.

Cagalli looked up from the menu when she heard the name the tan-skinned guy said. "Mir, as in Miriallia?" she asked.

"Ah, yeah," Dearka said. "Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Dearka Elsman, one of the guys that you left in the dust earlier, as well as Miriallia's on again off again boyfriend."

"I'm Cagalli Yula Attha. And on again off again?" Cagalli questioned.

"I'll explain," Athrun said. "ON the OFF chance that Miriallia decides to take Dearka back, she's ON his case again about him being OFF talking to another girl again."

Athrun and Kira laughed, Cagalli nodded in understanding, and Dearka shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "Hey, what can I say? I love the ladies. Mir should know by know that I can't be tied down."

"Well Dearka, it's really nice to meet you, well re-meet you, but would you mind taking our orders? I'm starving!" Cagalli exclaimed, and her stomach gave a growl in agreement.

"Not a problem at all! So what do you fancy Ms. Attha?" Dearka said playfully.

"Two slices of spicy chicken pizza and a root beer."

"I'll have two pepperoni slices and a coke, Dearka," Athrun added.

"Two slices of white pizza and water please," said Kira.

"Coming right up, don't go anywhere," the tanned boy joked, and he glided away to put in their orders.

"White pizza and water?" Cagalli raised a blonde eyebrow. "Could you get any blander? Haven't changed in three years…" She sighed and shook her head.

"What about you, Cags? You didn't grow out of that whole spicy phase yet? I remember you were the only fourth grader who could put half a bottle of hot sauce on a taco and live to tell the tale."

While Kira and Cagalli glared at each other and started firing different random insults at each other and fighting like, well brother and sister, Athrun watched in an entertained manner with his chin resting on his hand. He had never seen his friend Kira so worked up, except for when Athrun was making fun of him about Lacus. Although they were arguing, Athrun could tell that they were both enjoying themselves. It was like Kira had regained a part of himself that he didn't know was missing. Despite how much Athrun liked watching this sibling spat, he decided to step in before condiments started flying across the table.

"Cagalli, the food's here."

Cagalli immediately shut up and started looking all around. "What? Where? No it's not, Athrun! Making me all excited…"she trailed off and started muttering.

While Cagalli was sulking, Kira turned to Athrun and said, "Don't get the wrong impression, Athrun. Even though Cagalli might seem, well nuts…"

"I heard that baby brother!"

Athrun raised an eyebrow, but Kira just continued, "She really hates fighting. In fact, she'll usually be the one to break up fights when she sees them. She believed that most disputes can be solved through verbal or diplomatic means (AN: Sound like Cagalli? XD). Never hesitated to hit me though…" Kira mumbled under his breath.

Cagalli chose that moment to speak up. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not just gonna sit by and let myself get taken advantage of, I'll fight back if I really need to, but otherwise I'm pretty peaceful. Except on the football field, of course."

_So she plays football, one of the most violent contact sports, but hates fighting? She sure is interesting, _Athrun thought.

"Oh look, the food's here," Athrun remarked.

Cagalli gave him a look. "Yeah, Zala, like I'd fall for that one again. I'm not some pushover who can be fooled over and over-"

Suddenly two plates were placed in front of her as Dearka said, "Two spicy chicken slices for the lady." Her cheeks tinted with red and she crossed her arms, visibly pouting. However, hunger won out over acting dramatically, and she reached across the table for the red pepper flakes, which she then started massively pouring onto her pizza.

Kira watched his sister and then gave Athrun an "I told you so" look. The three teens started eating, and it was quiet for a little while as they all enjoyed their food. After they had finished at least their first slice, Athrun asked, "Oh yeah, Kira. Do I recall Cagalli calling you by some name a few minutes ago? Something along the lines of baby brother?"

Kira flushed and Cagalli said proudly, "That's right!" She threw her arm around Kira. "I'm Kira-chan's big sister!"

"It's only by five minutes!" Kira protested.

"Hey, just be glad that I'm not making you call me onee-chan (AN: big sis in Japanese) anymore," Cagalli said while smirking.

"Okay that's enough of this conversation!" declared Kira, who was worried about more of his embarrassing secrets being leaked out. "Athrun! Don't you want to know why Cagalli and I haven't seen each other in three years?" Kira was winking furiously at Athrun.

Athrun clearly understood Kira's hint, but decided to ignore it. "Actually I'd like to hear more of Cagalli's stories. So what else did you make Kira do?"

Kira decided to pretend that Athrun had played along with him. "I knew you would! It's a very interesting story actually. Well you see, when we were in fifth grade, our parents got divorced. Cagalli went to live with our dad, who moved all the way to Orb, and I stayed with our mom, who decided to revert back to her maiden name, and make me change my name, too. Cagalli went to a boarding school until high school, but she came back for the summer before eighth grade and we saw each other for a short while. Then I guess we were just so busy we never got to see each other until now."

Athrun just sat for a minute, taking it all in, then he said, "That makes sense. Too bad, I was kind of expecting some weird answer like from a soap opera about people separated at birth, destined to go through life never knowing they had a twin…you know how it ends."

Cagalli and Kira both thought, _I think he watches too much tv. _When they were finished eating, Kira, Cagalli, and Athrun left the pizzeria, making sure to leave Dearka a nice tip for all that essential hair gel he needed. They walked to the corner, and then stopped. Kira asked, "Cagalli, do you know which way you live from here?"

Cagalli looked around, thought for a minute, then blushed and looked down. "Not really. I don't remember seeing any of this on my way to the house. I feel like a lost elementary school kid."

The two boys laughed and Athrun just said, "It's okay, you just moved here. What street do you live on?"

"That I know! It's, um…Aegis Avenue."

Athrun's eyes widened, as he said to her in surprise, "Oh, that's my street! So we can just walk together."

"Good, I won't worry if you're with Athrun," Kira stated. "Well, I live the opposite way from that street, on Freedom Lane, so I guess we'll part here. Oh, by the way, here's my cell phone number. 582-8423."

Cagalli entered it into the address book on her sleek black slider phone that had a lion charm hanging from it. "Got it," she said. "I'll just text you with mine or something." She suddenly walked forward and gave Kira a big hug. "It's been so great meeting you again. I'm so glad I moved here now."

"So am I," Kira replied. "So, see you at practice tomorrow!"

"You bet," she said happily. "Bye!"

Kira waved to Athrun and Cagalli as they started walking away. Then, when they were almost out of earshot of each other, Cagalli yelled back over her shoulder, "Don't think I've forgotten about the Lacus thing!"

If Cagalli and Athrun had looked back after she said that, they would have seen Kira trip over his own feet.

* * *

Cagalli and Athrun walked side by side down the street in silence, just absorbing the sounds of summer: crickets chirping, air conditioners humming, sprinklers sprinkling. Cagalli spun around and inhaled deeply. "I love the last week or so of summer. It's such a relaxing time, when the nights aren't too hot, and you can just take a deep breath and walk down the street with a friend."

Athrun looked at her, smirked, and said, "Oh, so we're friends now, hmm?"

"Well, as of right now I'd say so," she replied. "But maybe that's only until you do something to piss me off."

"I'll make sure to be extra careful," he said in a joking manner.

The fiery blonde gave him a look that said, "Don't mess", and then returned her gaze to the sidewalk ahead. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she said excitedly, "Look Athrun, a sprinkler is extending over the lawn into the sidewalk!"

Athrun wasn't looking at the expression on her face, so he assumed that the water bothered her. "I didn't think you'd be one to mind getting a little wet, but we can walk in the street for a little…"

She looked at him disbelievingly, and said, "Why would we do that?" After saying that, Cagalli promptly ran ahead and did a cartwheel through the mist, landing perfectly on her feet at the end. "This is so much more fun!"

Athrun just stood and looked at her, her hair sparkling from the water droplets, and shook his head. _She's just full of surprises, isn't she,_ he asked himself. _I was right, she certainly is interesting. _When Athrun started to walk around the arc of water, Cagalli protested and said, "No way, you go through, too!"

Choosing to just comply with her wishes instead of starting an argument, Athrun walked through the water with his hands in his pockets. When he had reached the other side, he simply asked, "Happy?"

Cagalli pouted and said, "You're so boring! I can see why that brother of mine is friends with you."

Athrun sighed and they continued walking (AN: Long block, huh? ;P). As they were approaching their street, a firefly landed on Cagalli's shoulder. "Hey, look at that," Cagalli said to Athrun. "It's pretty rare for that to happen, isn't it?"

"My mother used to say that if a firefly lands on your shoulder, it means you've found the person you are destined to be with. You might not know that you've met them, but you have, and someday you'll realize that they were right near you all along and you'll be together forever. The longer the firefly remains on your shoulder, the closer you are to your special person." Athrun finished reminiscing and had a sad kind of look in his eyes, which of course went unnoticed by Cagalli.

Both teens were silent for a moment, and then Cagalli remarked quietly, "That was really beautiful. Your mother sounds like a wonderful person. I'd like to meet her."

"You can't," Athrun said. "She passed away when I was a kid."

Cagalli's face fell and she immediately regretted her words. After all, she wasn't so clueless as to not know that Athrun was getting uneasy talking about his mother. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I hope I didn't make you feel-"

"Don't worry about it." Athrun cut her off. "It's been almost 10 years."

Once again, the duo relapsed into silence and continued walking. Finally, Cagalli announced, "Oh, this is my house." It was pretty big and the real-estate sign on the lawn had a sticker over it that said SOLD. Cagalli walked over to it and said, "I should probably take this out." She then quickly uprooted the sign from the ground and threw it off to the side of the house.

Cagalli turned to Athrun and said, "Guess I'll see you tomorrow at practice?"

Athrun nodded and said, "Tomorrow it is. Good night."

Cagalli said the same thing back to him, and they waved to each other as he walked away- to the door of the house next door.

The temperamental girl's jaw dropped and she shouted, "You jerk! Thanks for conveniently forgetting to mention that you live next door!"

The blue-haired boy grinned at her, gave her a sloppy two-fingered salute, and shut the door of his house. Even from inside, he could hear the door of the house next door slam hard, and he laughed. _Interesting indeed._

Neither Cagalli nor Athrun had noticed that the firefly had stayed on Cagalli's shoulder until she was halfway through the door of her house, and even then it had been reluctant to leave.

* * *

**Wow, long chapter, huh? Well, next chapter we're back to the football field and get to meet some of the other players. Should prove to be interesting.**

**Should I change the genre to humor/romance or leave it how it is? I can't decide.**

**Review, review, review, review, review! I really reply, ask any of my reviewers!**


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